Dreams of the Future
by Golden Lady Serenity
Summary: During the World of Ruin, and before the fall of Kefka. Celes thinks of what she might do with her future. As always, R&R please! 10Q! ^_^


**Dreams of the Future**  
_by: Golden Lady Serenity_  
  
*Disclaimer: I don't own FFVI or it's settings and characters. Squaresoft does. But, if Squaresoft is willing to give me the rights, I'm sure I'd be happy to accept the proposal. ^_~*  
  
She stood at the prow of the _Falcon_, hair whipping behind her like some pale yellow flame. Wind howled and raged all about her, battering at her body, threatening to shove her this way and that, and yet she remained as still as a statue, rigid and straight as the finest blade.  
  
This was who Celes Chere was: a strong woman, hardened by the years and nearly unbreakable. Nearly.  
  
How often had she felt confusion in the last few months that she actually remembered? Terra's questions of love, her loss of rank, her tenuous place in the Returners, her awakening one year after the world's entire sense of equilibrium was utterly destroyed. And...her feelings for...  
  
...Him.  
  
No. _No_. She was _not _some love-starved twit, that was the truth. She would not cling to the arm of some man as though she were some ornament, fawning whenever he paid the slightest bit of attention. Not her. Never her. She would never be dominated, never cater to anyone's whims.  
  
The young swordswoman was no subservient. She wasn't a gentle, fragile person who needed her hand held all throughout her life, nor was she an incompetent who had to flirt her way to the top of the bloodstained imperial ladder. Indeed she was not that at all, when she had ascended to the rank of General at the young age of sixteen, able to think of strategies that would leave a swathe of destruction before and behind her.  
  
Celes had been as near to a queen as one could get in the Empire, without actually marrying the aged Emperor. Beautiful, unreachable, powerful, feared, respected, admired. A queen indeed, who sat on a throne made up of the bodies of the slain, contempt for the world on her face, and a frost about her eyes and heart.  
  
She knew indeed what she wasn't, and what she had been, but what was she now? There were no armies for her to command, there was no power for her to exercise, save in her blade and her magic. She had fallen from the peaks of glory, a girl not yet twenty, and had yet to rise again.  
  
'Rise? There is nowhere for me to rise,' she thought in disgust. 'The world is broken, the most beautiful of cities have either been reduced to mere townships, or lay destroyed, rotting corpses from a forgotten world, like Terra's new home in Mobliz. There _is_ nowhere to ascend.'  
  
Yet that wasn't entirely true, and she knew it. There was a challenge for her and her companions to rise to, delivered by the foul presence of the tower that housed the reason for the undoing of the world: Kefka. Surely he waited for them to appear and challenge him, only to swat them down like so many insects.  
  
_That would not happen_. They would appear once they'd banded the team together, they would challenge him, but they would _not_ be swatted down. They would be his destruction, and then...  
  
Once more the confusion returned to her, sending a chill through her that even Shiva's power could not compare to. Still Celes knew nothing of herself, of whatever untainted part of her soul that still remained. What would she say, if someone asked her to speak of her dreams, desires, wishes, and hopes? She had once been able to answer those questions, when her purpose had been to destroy, to lead entire armies to victory.  
  
Now, however, she could only answer with silence. There were no dreams in her heart, no longings that shone in her eyes, save one, and that one was so slim that she banished it all but instantly. After all, she didn't yet know what to do with her life, let alone how to handle the feelings of her heart. First things first.  
  
Celes sank down to her knees, still watching the reddened sky, the sickly yellow clouds that whizzed by, wondering what livelihood she could ever possess in such a world as this. What would she do, after the victory that they strove to achieve? Where would she go? And what, most importantly, would she do with her life?  
  
There was no real need for a tactician in this cold new world. People had enough trouble keeping their own lives afloat; there was little chance they thought of attacking or defending what cities that were left. Her sword and maybe her magic would always come in handy, she figured, as there were always the monsters to fight off. Finally...there was her singing.  
  
It was quite an intriguing thought, she had to admit, to give up the life of a warrior for the life of a performer. Secretly she admitted she'd enjoyed her "decoy act" as Maria, simply singing the lines given her, carrying the notes. No longer was she the fearsome General, but a talented young woman.  
  
'Is that what I long for? The life of a singer? To be admired by so many, without being feared...'  
  
That wasn't it though, and she well knew it. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel..._responsible_, yes, that was the right word. Responsible.  
  
Celes had always been responsible. She thrived on being responsible. During her schooling she was responsible, while she'd been in the military she'd been responsible, her time as a Returner had been filled with responbility as well. It was her nature, and she needed something to be responsible for in the future.  
  
She looked down through the rails at the tiny smudges below: Maranda, from the look of it.  
  
'I'm responsible for the burning of that town...completely. I was the one that suggested the attack. I was the one that took it upon me to see cities burn, all to pave the way for my own nation. Why didn't I feel anything then, when the flames were stretching to the sky and the smoke made it nearly impossible to breathe? Why do I feel this way _now_, after all that's been done? Why should I feel...'  
  
"Responsible," she whispered into the howling winds.  
  
Celes Chere, one of the Emprie's best Generals, had been responsible for the brutal assault on Maranda. Celes Chere, the young, competent woman, would be responsible for making it a thriving, beautiful city again, even in a world like this.  
  
She pulled herself upwards, then stepped down and made her way around the deck to where Setzer stood at the helm. The white-haired gambler grinned at her a moment. "You're a mess. What was so fascinating up there, if you don't mind my asking?"  
  
Her grey-blue eyes sparkled a bit. "Up there? Nothing much of interest at all, just sky and clouds. In my thoughts? A lot...I was thinking of what I might do with my life, once we beat Kefka, I mean..."  
  
"Already? Isn't thinking of that a bit premature."  
  
"Maybe." Celes smiled, a genuine smile without scorn, contempt, or uncertainty. "But for once, I wanted to dream."  
  
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That's it for the fic. I hope you enjoyed it. ^_^ As always R&R, please! 10Q! ^-^  
  
*Important note: Since I cannot find the inspiration to continue my stories, they shall remain as they are for an indefinite period of time. Also, I shall be most likely be making my next fics only one chapter, as I seem to have trouble with anything more.*  



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